Why another email, WhatsApp message or new system won’t solve a problem that needs a conversation.
Have you ever walked into a business and seen a notice on the wall telling people to clean up after themselves, put things back where they belong, follow a particular procedure or do something they should already be doing?
Sometimes it’s in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s in the toilets. Sometimes it’s a laminated notice above a workstation.
And sometimes it’s an email sent to everyone, a WhatsApp message in the company group or a new procedure that everybody is expected to read and follow.
They’re all different versions of the same thing.
Someone isn’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and rather than dealing with the person or people involved, management has decided to communicate with everyone.
The question is, what problem are they actually solving?
The problem isn’t a lack of information
Let’s imagine you’ve got a team of people who keep leaving the workshop in a mess.
You’ve told them to tidy up. You’ve explained why it’s important. Everyone knows what’s expected.
But it keeps happening.
So you put a sign on the wall.
Does anyone seriously believe that the people who were ignoring the original instruction are suddenly going to change their behaviour because there’s now a laminated A4 sheet telling them what they already know?
Of course, sometimes a reminder is useful. People forget things. Clear instructions and visual prompts can help.
But if the problem is that people already know what they should be doing and aren’t doing it, another reminder is unlikely to change much.
And yet businesses do this all the time.
Another email. Another WhatsApp message. Another notice. Another process. Another piece of software.
Anything, it seems, other than sitting down with someone and having a proper conversation about what’s going on.
Why do managers do it?
I think there are several reasons.
Sometimes it’s because they’re busy. Sending an email takes thirty seconds. Having a conversation takes time.
Sometimes it’s because they believe they’ve already explained what they want, so repeating the instruction seems like the obvious next step.
But I suspect there’s another reason that’s more common than many managers would like to admit.
They’re avoiding a conversation they’d rather not have.
Because having that conversation means asking someone why they aren’t doing what they’ve been asked to do.
It might mean challenging their behaviour.
It might mean hearing something they don’t want to hear.
It might mean discovering that the instruction is unrealistic, the process is badly designed or the manager themselves is part of the problem.
And sometimes it means making it absolutely clear that a particular standard of behaviour is expected and that continuing to ignore it has consequences.
Those conversations aren’t always comfortable.
But management isn’t just about communicating what you want. It’s about making sure people understand what’s expected, finding out what’s stopping them and dealing with the issues that arise.
Have you actually found out why?
Here’s something I think a lot of managers miss.
When someone isn’t doing what you expect, there are several possible explanations.
They might not understand what you want.
They might not know how to do it.
They might not have the time, tools or resources.
They might believe there’s a better way.
They might think the process is ridiculous.
Or they might understand perfectly well and simply be choosing not to do it.
Those are very different problems.
And they need very different solutions.
If somebody needs training, give them training.
If they haven’t got the resources, sort out the resources.
If the process is stupid, fix the process.
If they disagree, understand why and explain your reasoning.
And if they’re deliberately ignoring a reasonable instruction, deal with their behaviour.
But first, you need to understand which problem you’ve actually got.
And the simplest way to do that is usually to have a conversation.
Not a lecture. Not another telling-off. An actual two-way conversation where you ask questions, listen to the answers and work out what’s really happening.
Communication isn’t the same as management
I want to be clear about something.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with emails, signs, WhatsApp messages, systems or procedures.
They’re useful tools.
A good process helps people work consistently. A clear sign can remind someone of an important safety requirement. Software can make it easier to organise work, measure performance and hold people accountable.
All of those things have a place.
But communicating an instruction and managing someone’s behaviour are two different things.
Sending an email tells people what you want.
Managing means finding out whether they understand it, whether they can do it, whether they’re actually doing it and, if they aren’t, understanding why.
That’s where the conversation comes in.
And it’s where a lot of managers fall short.
They confuse having told someone with having managed the situation.
How many times have you heard a manager say, “Well, I’ve told them!”
My response would be, “Yes, but has anything changed?”
Because that’s what matters.
Stop treating the symptom
There’s something else going on here, and it’s something I see regularly in businesses.
We have a tendency to solve the problem we can see rather than understanding what’s causing it.
The workshop is untidy, so we put up a sign.
People are missing deadlines, so we introduce a reporting spreadsheet.
Customers aren’t getting called back, so we buy another CRM system.
People aren’t following procedures, so we write more procedures.
Sometimes those are exactly the right things to do.
But sometimes they’re simply more elaborate ways of avoiding the real problem.
Perhaps nobody is taking responsibility.
Perhaps expectations haven’t been made clear.
Perhaps people are overloaded.
Perhaps the manager isn’t following up.
Perhaps the culture has developed to the point where everyone knows that instructions can be ignored because nothing happens when they are.
No amount of software is going to resolve that on its own.
You have to deal with the problem behind the problem.
And quite often, the way you discover that problem is by talking to the people involved.
And there’s a lesson here for business owners too
The interesting thing is that the same principle applies to the people running the business.
Business owners have more information available to them than ever before.
Books, podcasts, YouTube videos, AI, business courses, dashboards, reports and endless advice about how to run a better business.
All of it can be useful.
But information is only part of the equation.
Sometimes what you need is someone to challenge what you’re thinking.
Someone who asks why you’re doing something a particular way.
Someone who sees something you’ve missed, questions an assumption you’ve made or gives you feedback that the people around you might be reluctant to give.
Someone who helps you see the problem differently.
And that’s difficult to achieve when all you’re doing is consuming more information or listening to people who agree with you.
The same principle that applies to managing your team applies to managing your business.
Sometimes the thing that changes the result isn’t more information. It’s the right conversation.
So the next time someone in your business isn’t doing what you expect, before you send another email, write another procedure or put another sign on the wall, ask yourself a simple question.
Is this really a communication problem, or is there a conversation I should be having?
Because you can put as many posters on the wall as you like.
At some point, you’ve actually got to manage people.
Andy Walter
I help business owners build businesses that are easier to run, with less pressure and less stress.
Join us at the next Your Mastermind Group networking session.
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